Description: A visually stunning and extremely rare 1874 pocket map of the greater New York City area innovatively combining detailed land surveys with the work of the U.S. Coast Survey. Covers the New York City area from Sandy Hook and Monmouth County north to include Staten Island, Newark, Manhattan and Yonkers. Extends eastward into Long Island as far as Hicksville, Jericho and Freeport. Includes all of Brooklyn, Jamaica Bay, Queens, parts of Westchester, and much of northeastern New Jersey. Offers a detailed view of the streets, roadways, railroads, farmlands, islands, swamps, and parks of the region. Includes the Croton Aqueduct. Nautically, this map is heavily based upon the 1856 U.S. Coast survey of the same region compiled under the direction of A. D. Bache. Offers thousands of depth soundings, noting channels, buoys and lighthouses where appropriate. Published by Matthew Dripps working in conjunction with the Asher and Adams firm.

Cartographer:
Matthew Dripps was a New York based map publisher working the middle to later part of the 19th century. He is best known for his numerous maps of New York City, but also has to his credit several maps of Brooklyn and New York State. Dripps had his offices at 105 Fulton Street, New York City. Curiously, for a fairly prominent New York publisher, little is known of his life beyond his obvious work.
Click here for a list of rare maps from Matthew Dripps.

Cartographer:
The Office of the Coast Survey, founded in 1807 by President Thomas Jefferson and Secretary of Commerce Albert Gallatin, is the oldest scientific organization in the U.S. Federal Government. Jefferson created the "Survey of the Coast," as it was then called, in response to a need for accurate navigational charts of the new nation's coasts and harbors. The spirit of the Coast Survey was defined by its first two superintendents. The first superintendent of the Coast Survey was Swiss immigrant and West Point mathematics professor Ferdinand Hassler. Under the direction of Hassler, from 1816 to 1843, the ideological and scientific foundations for the Coast Survey were established. These included using the most advanced techniques and most sophisticated equipment as well as an unstinting attention to detail. Hassler's devised a labor intensive triangulation system whereby the entire coast was divided into a series of enormous triangles. These were intern subdivided into smaller triangulation units that were then individually surveyed. Employing this exacting technique on such a massive scale had never before been attempted. Consequently Hassler and the Coast Survey under him developed a reputation for uncompromising dedication to the principles of accuracy and excellence. Unfortunately, despite being a masterful surveyor, Hassler was abrasive and politically unpopular, twice loosing congressional funding for the Coast Survey. Nonethelss, Hassler lead the Coast Survey until his death in 1843, at which time Alexander Dallas Bache, a great-grandson of Benjamin Franklin, took the helm. Bache was fully dedicated to the principles established by Hassler, but proved more politically astute and successfully lobbied Congress liberally fund the endeavor. Under the leadership of A. D. Bache, the Coast Survey completed its most important work. Moreover, during his long tenure with the Coast Survey, from 1843 to 1865, Bache was a steadfast advocate of American science and navigation and in fact founded the American Academy of Sciences. Bache was succeeded by Benjamin Pierce who ran the Survey from 1867 to 1874. Pierce was in turn succeeded by Carlile Pollock Patterson who was Superintendent from 1874 to 1881. In 1878, under Patterson's superintendence, the U.S. Coast Survey was reorganized as the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey (C & GS or USGS) to accommodate topographic as well as nautical surveys. Today the Coast Survey is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration or NOAA. Click here for a list of rare maps from the U. S. Coast Survey.

Cartographer: Active in the 1860s and 70s, the New York firm of Asher & Adams produced some of the most detailed and colorful late 19th century American Atlases. Asher & Adams are known for their remarkable state and county atlases which are so detailed that they include individual family homes and names. The Asher & Adams firm followed the quality and style formats pioneered by the earlier Colton and Johnson firms - notable for their distinctive pastel color washes and impressive size. Their most important work is their 1874 Asher & Adams Commercial and Statistical Gazetteer of the United States which is one of the first 19th century atlases to remove topographical information to make room for detailed depictions of railroads. Click here for a list of rare maps by Asher and Adams.

Condition:
Very good. Has undergone some professional restoration work and has been backed with Japanese paper. However, has also been refolded at some point. Some minor damage and loss along a couple of the original fold lines - especially in the upper right quadrant. Would flatten beautifully. Comes with original linen binder.